A large segment of the global economy ($350 billion) is based on the use of metal-organic frameworks in petrochemical cracking, ion-exchange for water softening and purification, and in the separation of gases. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are porous crystals whose structures are constructed from metal-containing cationic units and anionic organic links. MOFs with desirable porosity and stability are typically, and almost exclusively, made from organic links of carboxylates, imidazolates, and tetrazolates.